Configuration management databases (CMDBs) are repositories of information related to components or configuration items of information systems. Such information systems typically comprise an Information Technology (IT) infrastructure having respective IT components or configuration items such as servers, applications, terminals, and the like. The CMDB stores information not only with respect to the configuration items, but also stores information pertaining to the relationships of configuration items with other configuration items.
Enterprises supported by complex information systems, such as banks, IT companies and telephone companies, often maintain complex CMDBs. It is from time to time necessary or desirable to effect configuration changes to some of the configuration items of the information system. All configuration changes are, however, not always successful. A configuration change may, for example, fail in an instance where the installation or configuration change of an application on a particular hardware component results in malfunction of the hardware component or of another component in the information system. Proposed configuration changes may thus have associated risks of implementation. For example, decommissioning a server may result in the downtime of the applications hosted on it, which can result in multiple applications being unavailable—perhaps causing great inconvenience. Even successful configuration changes may occasionally have unforeseen consequences or effects that give rise to further incidents in the information system.